Watching, Protecting
by IndieEyesxoox1
Summary: After the death of her father, Nina moves from Seattle to his childhood home: La Push. Her father still haunts her thoughts, leading her to the place she was meant to find. Embry's new neighbor sparks his interest. But no one needs him like Nessie needs Jacob, right? (Rated M for adult language, adult situations, and sensuality.) An Embry imprint story.


(AN) First chapter! Thank you everyone, for picking this story to read!

~Embry~

I really hate Toby. Honest to God, I hate him. "Beautiful…love…so right for me…" Snippets of his thoughts drove the entire pack crazy. Images of Joyce, Toby's new imprint, had been interrupting important information all night. There was no way we were going to catch this bloodsucker if he was here ruining all the fun. I was hinting at Jake all night to make him go home, but every time, every goddamn time, he told me "Dude, he's new, he just found her, cut him some slack." He wouldn't be saying that if he had never imprinted. He had Nessie. I was happy for them, Ness was a good friend, she was gorgeous, and Jake deserved her. But honestly, none of us wanted to see them in bed. If we could kill the Alpha, we would have 7 years ago.

Maybe I'm bitter. Maybe I just don't want to see soft-core porn of my brothers and their girlfriends. "You want one. Admit it." I should have pulled a knife on Leah a long time ago.

"Leah, I don't want to be hopelessly in love with someone I don't even know." They were all blind. Def too, maybe. Could they not hear themselves?

"Gabe is just so…so sweet! He stayed in with me all night! He didn't have to do that!" Why don't you just fuck in front of me? Here, lay down with each other in the dirt, and start. I'd rather have a live show than a playback.

Even though I hated seeing their love life in my head all the time, I do care about their imprints. In fact, I love them. We feel for the imprints, almost the same as the brother (or sister) feels for them. It was our sworn duty to protect them, to love them, to care for them with our life.

I had good luck with girls. I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't a god or anything. I had girlfriends through school. None that I really liked too well. They were mostly objects to me in high school . Jemma, my last girlfriend, was hot as hell. Great legs, great ass, she was flawless. Damn, I miss her. She came over every night until I started having nightly patrols. There were other girls like Jemma though. Being her 'boyfriend' didn't keep me away from them. She cheated too, don't blame me. We just used each other. And we were both fine with that.

Back home, I fell face first onto my bed. All I wanted was sleep. I'd been up two days straight on patrol. There were a lot more leeches than normal. They pass through a lot this time of year. Since our alliance with the Cullen's, we'd gone a little soft.

I woke up to the rain clattering on my window above the bed. I'd never felt this lonely. With all the imprinting that has been going on lately, I was wondering if I was going to get mine. In a way, I guess I did want an imprint. Deep in the pit of my stomach, I new I needed someone to need me. I needed them to need me like Nessie needs Jacob, like Emily needs Sam, like Kim needs Jared. When I saw their thoughts, I could see that it wasn't just a relationship. The sex wasn't just sex. I couldn't see that. I couldn't see never having mindless sex. They were always there. Always.

My bed was so cold, too big for just me, even with my feverish temperature and unusual height. I had nothing to do today. Nothing to do but lay in bed and think about other peoples imprints, other peoples sex, and other peoples happiness. I picked up the phone, and dialed the memorized number. "Jemma?"

~Nina~

"You can't miss it sugar pie, huge sea stacks, you'll see it from Mora." I waved goodbye to the woman in the gas station. Forks was pretty nice, nicer than what I'd expected. My next stop was La Push. That was his favorite place growing up.

"It took care of me, Nina, it got me through." I could still hear his voice in my mind. I put my father away in the back of my brain, trying to keep him there. I had to stop crying everyday. I wish he could see where I was going. I wish he knew. I wish I could believe he could.

I had walked for about 45 minutes, a road that would take 15 by car. I really did live in a beautiful state. Everything was lush and green, making it hard to look away. I began to hear the ocean. I could smell the salt and the salmon being cooked over an open fire. "This is it," he would tell me, "this is where I come from." My father was not Quileute or Makah. He just lived with his adoptive mother on the reservation and fell in love with it.

"It hasn't changed. Its so beautiful ,Nina. Everything is there. _They _are still there." _They. They, they, they_. He always talked about '_they_', but he would never tell me who '_they'_ are. _They _are always there. "_They_ are always there watching, protecting. Magnificent. _They _really are." _They_ are always there. _They_ are always there stalking, creeping. Scary. _They_ really are.

This was my kind of place. Quiet, practically abandoned, and peaceful. He'd left me money for a house. This is where I would settle. I would settle here even if I didn't like it. I would settle, because he is here. His heart and soul is not in Seattle. Its not in the city. Its here. Here with the "good people," here with the "real food," and most important to him, here with "_they_." I observed my surroundings as best I could. I was still in a state of awe. The ocean, tide pools, a few children and their parents, a pavilion, two side by side motels and a few cabins, the forest on either side of me. "_They_ are always there watching, protecting." I starred into the forest longer than I needed to. He talked about '_they_' so much. '_They_' must be everywhere.

"No Claire. No…Cla…Claire!" A tall boy struggled to keep a little girl out of the water. "Claire you are almost 11. You need to listen to me. You don't have any extra clothes with you. Ugh…just…whatever." He was wrapped around her finger.

"Quil, thank you for taking me to the beach." She batted her eyelashes and hugged him.

"Yeah, no problem, Claire-Bear." He gave in, hugged her back, and sent her off into the water again. Must be a little sister-big brother thing. I wouldn't know. I was an only child.

I sat down a few yards away from them. I'd walked for too long. I was going to get a motel room for the night. In a few days, I could find a house and move in. When it started to get dark, Quil and Claire retreated from the beach and took the trail through the woods, heading home, I expect. I decided to pack up too, going straight for the motels. I was in Thunderbird, room 17, second floor. I had a great view of the beach. It was March, so hopefully I would be able to see Orcas. I wouldn't be here that long though. Maybe tomorrow.

No whales. I left my stuff in the room. House hunting day. Anything would do, really. I didn't much care about the interior. Or the exterior, for that matter. I took the same trail as Claire and Quil did the night before and it lead me to a beautiful two story cabin, covered in flowers and wind chimes. It was occupied though. I could hear loud men inside, crashing, the ding of an oven, and a few girls maybe. I continued on the trail, passing a few more houses and cabins, some dilapidated, some new. The Quileute's had just gotten some of their land back I heard, this must be some of it. Beside an old yellow cabin, was a new brown one for sale. It had potential. This will do.

I had enough money for whatever the price, but it couldn't be much for this little thing. I called the number on the "For Sale" sign and set up an appointment for closure.

After I got the cabin, I moved what little stuff I had in. I unpacked my three suitcases, took a shower, and crawled into the new bed I'd bought. There was a crescent shaped window above my headboard. I could hear the rain tap-tap-tapping on it. Each drop racing another to get to the bottom. My bed was lonely. Maybe it was because it hasn't been broken in. But maybe not. Maybe I was just cold. I should buy a heater for my bedroom tomorrow. A heater would help me stay warm at night. But maybe a heater couldn't supply the warmth that I needed.

(AN) Like? Eh? Review? Yes? Yes. Thank you for reading! Hope to see you, next chapter. Will be soon! I promise! Review please J

-S


End file.
